Run
by SarentoKensei
Summary: Honestly, I wrote this two years ago at midnight and finished at three am and Galahad just cracks me up. The concept is Galahad shortly after the adventure with Rhen is over, and his new life with Te'ijal. Rated T for melodrama and blood.


He ran.

The adventure was over, and the parties made their peace. Daemean and Rhen wed-though he couldn't see why. Elini and John married-he pitied the man.

And now he was alone. With this demon.

Now Galahad, never truly saw saw himself as a bad person. In fact, he was a man of the Goddess, and gave his life to protect others. He just wished when he died, it ended there. But the cruel coils from the snake of fate trapped him, and now he was her prey.

"Oh Galahad, you're beyond over dramatic. Now crumpet, don't you think you're being a little harsh? We haven't spoken since we departed! We need to discuss things! For example, duckling, when are you going to feed~?" He didn't reply, he handed the innkeeper gold for the night. She didn't need to sleep-neither did he any longer, but he wanted to. At least that's what he told her. He had the sunscreen in his pouch, and intended to go on a lonesome stroll before night was over. She'd be holed up, waiting for him to come back, the sun would rise.

And he would run.

Night fell, and the demon clung to him like a parasitic insect, one that hungrily stole the happiness from him like a leech with blood. An ironic statement, he knew. He stood up abruptly, not replying to her dreadful blathering that droned in his ear like two flies that flew in front of her ears simply to deny him peace. He stared off into the distance, counting his minutes. He was covered in darkness, as death herself caressed his cheek. Her kiss felt like pestilence, and her curse she ruined him with was famine. It had been a month now, that he was a monster. A filthy blood sucking leech like her. A demon. A crime to the Goddess herself. He wished to weep, but that was pointless. It'd do nothing. He just had to get away. The knight then stood, pulling himself away from her in the middle of her conversation.

"Where are you going, darling~?"

"A walk."

"Oh delightful! Let me grab my bag-"

"I'm going alone. Grant me one night of peace, would you? Before you drag me to hell?"

Galahad glared at her harshly, to which her only reply was to stare at him for a moment before he walked out, and slammed the door.

It worked. For now at least. He calmly walked through the city, and his barely beating heart almost felt alive again. He didn't need to breath, but he still did. His breath was quick, panicked. He was almost worried the monster that tormented him would hear it, and rush to him.

Once he was outside of city lines, he ran. He ran as fast as his feet would carry him in heavy plate, somehow he felt faster than normal-beyond fast really. It was invigorating almost, all of a sudden, he was almost to the crossroads. He didn't bother to even look where he was going, he just took a path and ran. He kept going till he got to the next town, just as dawn was breaking. He slipped into an inn, his hair a mess, but he hadn't even broken a sweat!

The moment he realized, that mad speed he had gained previously was due to his curse, his stomach twisted. But he had to keep going. At least to the next town-or overseas or something, anywhere to get as far away as possible. He had to escape. He ignored the strange looks from the innkeeper, and began applying sunscreen to his body. A generous amount was of course needed so he didn't burn up in the sun. He applied it, and set out. He was much calmer now, knowing without her supply, she couldn't follow him.

He took in a deep breath of air as he stepped back outside, though his paranoia set in and his eyes darted around to make sure she wasn't anywhere near him. He nodded to himself when he believed the coast was clear, and set out.

Goddess, it was maddening. His starvation got worse when he was around others. He bought a loaf of bread, and began eating it to fill his stomach. His head hurt from how hungry he was, his stomach growled so loudly he was worried others would begin to hear it. He could hear their blood pulsing, their hearts beating as the heart pumped the cells. The beautiful color it brought to the human's cheeks-it was divine. But the madness-no! He couldn't let it consume him. This is exactly what the witch would want! He made his way out of the city, slipping into the woods. He couldn't feed off of another human. He WAS human. Is human! He is human. He is human. He kept reassuring himself of that fact-worried how he'd stop believing it himself.

He wandered the woods, quietly. He listened for sounds of wild animals, but mostly tried to smell for her. It was strange, it was like his sinuses had constantly been clogged up, but he could smell the squirrels in the trees, the wolves sleeping in their dens, the rabbits in their holes. Maybe hunting would calm his mind, catching a rabbit and cooking it up-that would have to fill him!

The paladin set up a small trap, scavenging for some small berries that would trap a rabbit-in a few hours it did even. He snapped the white animal's neck quickly so it wouldn't feel pain, when the wind howled. Night was falling early, he'd have to be on guard. He hadn't even notice the leaves falling lately, he had been so miserable with the demon he was forced to call his new wife. He had to be far enough away for now, he just had to be safe.

He started a small fire, listening intently over the cracking of the flames. He started to prepare the rabbit, pulling out a skinning knife to remove the fur before putting the animal over the fire.

As soon as the blade made contact with the fur, and he sliced into its flesh, he dropped it, lurching to the side and vomiting up the bread he stuffed himself with earlier. He probably threw up the whole loaf of bread, none of it seemed to really digest. He covered his mouth, almost horrified with what just occurred, before he looked to the rabbit, and how the beautiful red blood slowly leaked out onto the soft white fur. Galahad couldn't hold back, something seemed to overtake him, and he snatched the rabbit up, and bit into it like a savage animal. He sucked the corpse dry from its blood, fangs digging into its broken neck as the body began to shrivel up from how much he drank.

Once it was over, he threw the animal down into the fire and covered his mouth in horror, staring at the body as it began to be finished off by the flames. He ripped off his glove, staring at his hand in worry. He still had color to him. Digging through his satchel, he found a small mirror he kept to keep himself presentable to the king. He stared at himself in it, squinting. A sigh of relief escaped him.

A faint reflection, he could still see himself. He thanked the goddess under his breath.

"My my, now a human crumpet, a human would be far far tastier than a little rabbit." The demon stepped from the shadows-her home, and stood near him. She walked behind him on the fallen log he sat on, and cupped his cheek. Fear racked his body, panic rattled his spine, and he pulled away from her, falling and stumbling to the ground as he covered his face, trying to hide his shame. She moved to him, hushing him.

"Did that taste good, darling? Animals blood is so vile to me. It won't turn you, it'll only satisfy you for a short while. Come, if you're finally sating your hunger-let us have a feast! We shall dine on humans till morning~!" She laughed, moving down and giving him a kiss on the lips, before trailing her tongue along his lips. This didn't last long before he rather violently threw her off of him, letting her fall to the side as he stood up. He wiped off his mouth aggressively, and then walked off. Eres herself stalked after him, trying to drag him back and stop him. He shook her off, glaring at her for a moment. She had caught up with him, and he could no longer escape for now. She wrapped his arms around his own, and leaned into him. She pressed her head against him, a content smile off of those bloody red lips of hers.

"I ate the most lovely human boy earlier before I caught up with you." She didn't seem to acknowledge he ran away. She ignored the fact due to her lack of pity. She felt nothing, she was nothing but a demon and deserved to be treated as such. He shook her off, but like the leech she was she latched back on. She went silent for s moment as he walked along, noticing how he behaved. Honestly, he felt sick to his stomach. The way he tore into the rabbit like an animal, a monster, a demon. He felt disgusting, she had already began her process of turning him into a bloodthirsty animal like she is. And he had to stop. In any way he could. But he couldn't do that around her, she'd eventually trick him into feeding and he'd lose the last bit of humanity he had left.

He pressed her up against a tree, staring at her with a cold expression. She seemed startled for a moment, but a playful expression soon danced across her features.

"Exhibitionism, Galahad~? Why I never took you as the type." She teased, placing her hand on his chest as he moved in. She leaned up to kiss him again, and he didn't shove her away. Due to her lustful demonic nature of a succubus, she gave in easily to his plan. As she kissed him, probably hungrily tasting the bits of animal blood residue on his lips like the maddened animal she is. The paladin, quick as he was, pushed out her cloak, and with all his might, stabbed his skinning knife into the cloak, through the tree. His might now was significantly more powerful than before, and he stepped back amazed for a second. He had caused a small casam in the tree, causing it to crack up its base. Te'ijal seemed baffled for a moment, staring at the blade, and then the tree, and then finally to him. He saw hellfire in her eyes, a demonic expression that if he was human, he was sure would turn him to stone. He took a step back, clearly frightened, and ran as she worked the blade from her cloak as to not ruin it further. He sprinted away, feeling like a lowly coward, but he felt desperate. This excitement of getting away from her didn't last long. He was only a half vampire after all. As he was running, he nearly crashed into her as she stepped in front of him. He had to have run miles at that point. And he seemed baffled she caught up so quickly. He stared at her for a long moment, panicked, before she spoke. She slithered closer, walking around him as she ran her hand along his torso.

"Now crumpet, I'm beginning to think you're avoiding me!" She paused for a moment, then laughed. "And you see me the cruel one! You marry a woman, and try to run off a short while later? How awful of you, knight!" She laughed, before her tone grew cold.

"Now, Sir Galahad. Do you intend to run again~?" She inquired, which a quiet response from Galahad followed, in which he nodded his head. "Very well. I shall not go after you. I will let you do as you please this time. But I know in the end, you'll come back to me. Just cry out to come back, and I'll be there." She booped his nose. "Go, if you wish." He stepped back after that, and she slipped the sunscreen out of his bag.

"Oh!" She exclaimed after he tried to snatch it. "Actually, I intend to take it this time. See you, crumpet~." She winked, and then ran off so quickly, it almost looked like she vanished.

He stared off at nothing once she the demon had fled, foolishly feeling off the sunscreen only to hang his head into his hands once he truly confirmed that she had taken it.

But this was fine. He'd be fine. No longer will he'd be bound by her shackles of madness- he was free. And to think she thought he'd cry out for her! How preposterous! However, he felt little to no peace over the matter. He felt torment, unhappiness, and fear. He no longer had any sunscreen to protect himself from the sun. He had already previously experienced what it was like to try and stand outside without protection. Nothing but agony graced him, nothing but misery seemed to he his life now.

The paladin slipped into town again, renting an inn. He probably looked a bit maddened, especially with how the young broad looked at him. He didn't blame her, however. He was gripping the counter, breathing heavily. After his experience with the rabbit-she smelled amazing. The damn curse of vampirism nearly sent him into madness, but he knew he was stronger than that. He held back, taking the key to his room and locking it. He closed up the window, though when the sun rose he found it didn't do too well of a job blocking it out. He ended up holding up in the closet, that being his only protection for now. He removed his armor, and just sat back against the wall in the darkness.

She granted him peace, but her darkness surely didn't leave him. It probably never would. He would be plagued by her curse for the rest of eternity. Galahad wanted to find a way to reverse this curse, but right now he had to do nothing more than survive to do it. Without becoming a full vampire, hopefully. It didn't take long however, for him to drift off into sleep inside of the closet.

When he woke up, dusk had settled. It bothered him that he was already switching sleep schedules, but trying to stay awake all day long while trapped in a dark room felt impossible. It was boredom more than anything, not becoming closer and closer to becoming a vampire.

Goddess though, he was starving. Maybe he could go to the meat market and just… shamefully get some raw meat to cook. He'd cook it, yes. He just had to adapt to eating meat cooked. If he ate a raw animal, surely he could just slip back into that. None of this nonsense he was currently doing. He could survive like this.

Galahad then went out to the meat shop, and by the goddess, that was a mistake. The raw meat was driving him absolutely mad, and he hadn't even entered the shop. He covered his nose, glancing in and trying to gauge his plan of action. However, the damned shopkeeper looked far more appetizing than anything else in the store. He walked past it-it'd be fine. He'd be fine. He'd just hunt again, go outside and hunt. He'd get a larger animal this time, one that isn't as easy to eat. And he'd slice it up and cook it, get some dried meats so he could salt them and move on with his life. He'd find some night shift work. He'd get some sunscreen! He could go on and pretend nothing was wrong. He just had to get accustomed. And then he could search for a cure. He'd be back to normal again in no time. And he could pretend this mess she made was actually just nothing. He could just go back to being human and die and join the goddess. Demons didn't get to go to the goddess after they died. They went into darkness-and he had no intention for that fate to become his.

He set up a larger trap this time. A more elaborate one that was rather well done he thought. He caught a deer this time, and he took no time in going up to the caught beast, petting it gently before abruptly pushing its neck back, killing it with ease. He soothed the beast as it died, though he groaned as he realized Te'ijal had his skinning knife. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and instead took his sword, and sharpened it for a bit. This was relaxing, though he did wonder why the deer hadn't been sleeping at this time. He took the blade, and pressed it to the deer once more as he began skinning it. The scent of blood almost instantly drove him mad, he began to feel sick again. He gagged, trying to make himself not want the vile substance, but the madness she inflicted upon him drove him closer to it.

Suddenly, like a bloodthirsty animal himself, he tore into the beast's throat and began drinking from the corpse. He didn't allow a single drop to leave his lips. Part of him screamed at himself to let go, to shove the animal away and pray to the Goddess for forgiveness. He wished to beg and plead for this terrible curse to be lifted from him, or for her to smite him down and free him from everything.

But he didn't. He kept drinking instead, until the blood ran sour.

He dropped the beast, stepping back and staring at the shriveled corpse. It's muscles were drained, it's eyes sunken. Blood stained his lips, it was tainting him. He ran away again, blade in hand. It was all he could do, just to run. He ran until he found a small creek, and he fell to his knees next to it. He stared at the water, the small flow of it, looking down at the reflection of the moon that blurred in the movement.

He washed his hands and face, and moved on.

Time passed, he moved from inn to inn, camping out in caves or staying protected in deep woods, which became more frequent as he ran lower and lower on gold. He couldn't get work due to his condition, he couldn't do much at all now than just try to survive. He dropped low on the hierarchy of needs, focusing entirely on the physiological sides of it. Where could he find safety from the sun, food, how long could he deal with all of this before he cracked completely. At this point, he had been sleeping in a cave. He was trying to discreetly hide what animals he ate, trying to not make it obvious that a vampire lurked about. But he wasn't a vampire, surely no one would take notices. Vampires don't eat animals. Why he even heard some humans in the world would draw blood from cattle and drink it! In the end, it was strange. But he was still human. He would always be human, no matter what the demon tried to change. He was not a vampire in any way except physical. And not even fully. Not now or ever.

The days wore on, it had to have been over a month. He started moving along, constantly moving and trying to find shelter. The animal blood was the only thing that kept him from going mad, but it never sated him. He knew exactly what would, but that idea couldn't be simply more mad in his eyes. He rejected the idea entirely. He would not under and circumstance feed from a human. Not now or ever.

Ultimately, he decided to go back to Sedona.

He stared at the walls as he approached the kingdom. They were different. Restructured, sound, strong now. It was horrifying to him, in a way. How much time had passed? The paladin looked around the city in the dead of night, his eyes seeing everything clearly. The city looked newer, some old buildings but different structures now as well. He walked a familiar path, one he knew by his cold dead heart. He went to the castle. Guards he never knew stood out front. He knew everyone in the guard. He walked off, looking around; hypnotized by the sheer difference of everything. The only way he even was sure his was Sedona was from the smell of cheese.

He walked around, continuously through the night, till he got to his home. It was abandoned, worn down from the years of his absence. It looked like he was gone for over a hundred years. But that was impossible! Missing posters for himself were on the door, a sign saying this house was unsafe to live in below it. He turned the knob, it was locked. He searched through his stuff till he found a key, and opened it.

His home had gone to hell and back, the paladin now in a state of shock. He moved slowly through the house, not breathing now from the thick dust, running into cobwebs, the air becoming thick and hard to breathe in from his movements alone. His eyes were wide, his mouth just a touch open, and sheer silence came from the paladin who seemed too shocked to function. He went into his room, the bed looked old. He stepped in front of his mirror, and stepped back. He didn't recognize who he saw in the reflection.

A man, with dark circles under his eyes. His mouth stained with animal blood, his eyes no longer shimmered blue, his hair long and disheveled. Dirt smudged his cheeks, he looked mad. His reflection was faded, hard to see. The man in the mirror looked rapid, like he'd jump out and strangle him at any moment. Soon, with little control from himself, tears seemed to clean the dirt and blood from his face. He couldn't take this life, this torment. He couldn't even die to be free from it.

"Te'ijal!" How he loathed calling out her name, how mad he felt calling to her. "Te'ijal… Te'ijal…" he practically broke down, shaking, staring at himself, tears falling down his pale cheeks. He couldn't take it. It was all too much, everything was too much. There was no winning in this fight. He had already lost the moment he parted from Te'ijal. How he never wanted to cry her name again, never to need her like he did now.

Snakes seemed to fall upon his shoulders, slithering down his chest for a moment before coiling around his neck and stroking his cheek.

"Oh, crumpet, I loathe mirrors. They show such horrible things sometimes, but I'm quite good at my personal upkeep." Galahad turned and stepped back from the temptress, who had her own psychotic grin on her visage. She shrugged and gestured out. "How's the place look, my dark knight, after the seventy three years you've been gone? Isn't it marvelous? Beautiful? Aged? Yet look, you haven't. And here you are, still in your thirties. Blessed forever by my own madness. Just accept it, my scrumptious. It'll be easier that way." She cackled maniacally at the man, who stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. He seemed tired, exhausted even. Like he was ready to break down right there. Her grin faded slightly as he stared at her, incapable of even speaking. She took this as her chance.

"So desperate, my lambchop, with nowhere else to go. I've heard news of a mad beast who devours the blood of beasts in the wilds, people call for your head. You could just eat a human, that'd be easier. But let's move into a different step, first. My darling, look at you." She turned him back to the mirror, all Galahad could bring himself to do was to look at himself. She didn't even show up. "You are the beast, you will eventually be hunted, killed, and considered a trophy for vampire hunters. Unless we go back to the original plan. You are my husband, now and forever. I will take you to the underworld, and you will not be a trophy for your friends to see and think, ah, so that's where the knight went. That's where my friend had gone. What a shame, he became a monster. He succumbed to the darkness he so loathed." She left out the part that they were probably well over a hundred and dead.

"So take my deal, Galahad. You will have a home, no sun, and you will be safe. You will meet your needs. I can provide you human blood, or simply animal blood if that's your… thing." She rolled her eyes for a second, then trailed her fingers under her chin, as if she was the snake tempting him to take the apple.

He took it.

The knight nodded slowly, the devil's grin showed upon her lips in response. He felt as if he had lost his soul again, but it was the only way to not lose himself as he was. She took his hand, and guided him outside once more. His home forever abandoned now, she took him to the underworld.

But eventually, he ran again.


End file.
